F5 BigIP LTM-VE 11.6.1 HF2 to 12.0.0 ( issues RPM transaction failure )

Attempting to  upgrade from  11.6.1  to 12.0 and my  issues & findings. The upgrade was straight forward , but with the  RPM transaction Failures when trying to install any hot fixes was a show stopped. 

*doing a forced mcpd  reload or manual installing the hotfix from the tmsh did not work

* deletion of the volume and resize the  2nd disk did not help either


So using the show system software

---------------------------------------------------
Sys::Software Status
Volume  Product  Version    Build  Active    Status
---------------------------------------------------
HD1.1    BIG-IP   12.0.0  0.0.606     yes  complete
HD1.2      none     none     none      no  complete

You can delete the  target volume  HD1.2

 delete  sys software  volume  HD1.2

And confirm it's deleted;

---------------------------------------------------
Sys::Software Status
Volume  Product  Version    Build  Active    Status
---------------------------------------------------
HD1.1    BIG-IP   12.0.0  0.0.606     yes  complete

Now find the  HotFix-image  and try again;



list sys software  hotfix images and find  the one to install


sys software hotfix Hotfix-BIGIP-12.0.0.1.0.628-HF1.iso {
    build 1.0.628
    checksum 1aa326fd7d5f5bea6502f74f29bc816a
    id HF1
    product BIG-IP
    title "Hotfix Version 1.0.628"
    verified yes
    version 12.0.0
}
sys software hotfix Hotfix-BIGIP-12.0.0.4.0.674-HF4.iso {
    build 4.0.674
    checksum cea9cbe68654b97e4b77b1a21e06a58b
    id HF4
    product BIG-IP
    title "Hotfix Version 4.0.674"
    verified yes
    version 12.0.0
}


Now do a manual install specify the create-volume and volume name


install  sys software  hotfix  Hotfix-BIGIP-12.0.0.1.0.628-HF1.iso create-volume  volume  HD1.2

Monitor the installation;

{ notice how HD1.2 is being installed with 12.0.0 base before the  HF#1 is applied }


(tmos)# show sys software status

----------------------------------------------------------------
Sys::Software Status
Volume  Product  Version    Build  Active                 Status
----------------------------------------------------------------
HD1.1    BIG-IP   12.0.0  0.0.606     yes               complete
HD1.2    BIG-IP   12.0.0  0.0.606      no  installing 10.000 pct

Now it will start the  HF install


(tmos)# show sys software status

----------------------------------------------------------------
Sys::Software Status
Volume  Product  Version    Build  Active                 Status
----------------------------------------------------------------
HD1.1    BIG-IP   12.0.0  0.0.606     yes               complete
HD1.2    BIG-IP   12.0.0  1.0.628      no  installing 79.000 pct


We gave up on this upgrade path and the LTM-VE and upgraded to  12.1.0 HF#2 with no issues. Never found a reason for the RPM instance failure.

In 12.1.0 you will find a few  items upon login

Jumping  forward the 1st thing notice when you log into the F5 LTM is the fact it's managed by BIGIQ. This status is great if you have device that are or are not managed by the BIGIQ appliance.

Be aware that   auto-updates was enabled, so this was disable on this test LTM

You can also  generate  quickviews from the support tab no need to have tmsh/bash console access.

The  12.1.0 default certificate has no-proper state definitions for the 2letter abbr.